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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new specific plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to